Follow the formal introduction of Winnipeg's art scene... to the world! We are thrilled to be showcased on a global stage at La Maison Rouge, leading art gallery in Paris, France, from June 22-September 24, 2011.
Read interviews with participating artists, view images of exhibited works, and follow along from an intern's perspective, as our hometown paints Paris red.

Sarah Anne Johnson's grandmother was the victim of experimentation by Dr Ewen Cameron. His experiments were funded by the Canadian government and secretly by the CIA during the 1950's and 1960's. When soldiers returned from the second World War, the American Government was concerned about the communist or socialist ideologies they had adopted. And so, the USA government funded secret research to attempt to brainwash, or reset minds. To do this research, unknowing patients being treated for mild depression were used, in the USA and Canada. Experiments included insulin induced comas for days or even weeks at a time while playing continuous recordings, sensory deprivation, and heavy doses of LSD and speed. In 1963, Dr Cameron gave up the research, as he felt it was not working, but did not inform the patients of what they were unknowingly a part of. Only in 1977 were the families informed. Many of the patients lost memory, the ability to work or engage in everyday life, to name a few of the tragic outcomes.

"I have over 100 parkas. Parka number one, my favourite is an Inuit parka from Baker Lake made especially for me by Irene Avalakiak in the early 1980s. It has a felt application of two big white hands that look like birds, placed on the butt. Parka number two is a first nations floral embroidered green parka with a red fox trim. I found it in a thrift store with a photograph in a pocket of its original owner at the Trappers Festival in The Pas in 1955. She is proudly wearing her coat amidst a cache of dead red fox. Coming in at number three, I have a dark green down parka that is waterproof with a hood, and a brilliant orange fragile sticker attached to the left sleeve. Number four, i have a camouflage parka, green brown and black, with a brilliant orange lining. The camouflage, developed during the second world war, was based on the plane trees that flank the Seine River in Paris. I have a myriad of ski jackets, they are green, blue, brilliant red, orange, pink, black, silver, white, beige, brown, purple, yellow, all with wondrous racing stripes. Some are vintage and others are even more vintage. I also have many black down jackets with hoods, long, short, flouncy, minimal, architectural, and warm.

Here William Eakin captures photographs often seen on tombstones. The ceramic and enamel photographs are weathered by our extreme heat and cold, wind, rain, and snow. By photographing these portraits, Eakin shares with us this "new" layer, perhaps alluding to a certain spirituality, ghosts, or the soul of the deceased.

And here we see the entrance to Guy Maddin's theatre where My Winnipeg (2007) is screened in full length. It is a 79 minute black and white film, a documentary mixed with myth of the city of Winnipeg. We see many archival photos in the film, as well as historical events, our extreme climate, and aspects that define the city.

During an altercation between police and John Joseph Harper, a Canadian Aboriginal leader from Wasagamack, Manitoba, Constable Robert Cross's weapon discharged resulting in Harper's death on March 9, 1988. Police were searching for a 19 year old, after a car was stolen, and mistook John Joseph Harper, 36, for the young man. J.J. Harper's family was so enraged by the murder that his youngest daughter hanged herself in protest. The shooting was initially ruled an accident; however, a strong public outcry lead to an inquiry, the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, of this case along with the murder of Helen Betty Osborne, into the imbalances of the colonial justice system lasting several years. The inquiry drew many conclusions of the unjustices towards Aboriginal people, and that Constable Robert Cross had used excessive force in the fatal confrontation.

With the panama canal finished in 1914, there began the commercial decline of development in Winnipeg, as goods would now be transported via the southern route. Perhaps parallels to this are drawn here by Bond, showing Detroit who has greatly suffered with the automotive industry leaving the city.

In 2001, Diana Thorneycroft began creating miniature dioramas she would then photograph. Using The Group of Seven's iconic paintings as backdrop, this body of work, Group of Seven Awkward Moments, she "questions received ideas of national identity and patriotism employing irony and humour as agents in her investigation".

Here Thorneycroft references the residential school system from the 1900s. This system was implemented by the Canadian government to assimilate First Nations and force a colonial way of life upon the Aboriginals. Children were stripped from their families and placed in these schools run by churches of all denominations. The children were severely punished if they spoke their language or partook in their traditional activities, resulting in cultural genocide lasting generations, and even today. An apology was only made in 2008 by Stephen Harper on the behalf of the Canadian government.

Here, one could assume Thorneycroft is again referencing the residential schools. When the young First Nations returned to their families, the were sometimes met with resentment due to changes created by colonials.
And of course we see Winnie the Pooh, named after Winnipeg! (see earlier post, July 27)

until next time, i will leave you with this interview with Noam Gonick.

1- Have you been to Paris, or shown in Paris before? (when...what...?)

I spent New Year's Eve 2000 in Paris because my editor got me spooked about Y2K, and I didn't relish the thought of spending doomsday in an arena in St. Vital with shrieking families, so I preemptively went to Paris to stay in the Cite Des Artists on the Seine with my friend Etoile Stewart. When Y2K failed to materialize I returned to Winnipeg and edited the film, which was later opened theatrically in Paris. I've also done an artist's talk at Théâtre du Renard, shown a film at Jeu de Paume.

2- How would you compare the art scene in Winnipeg to Paris?

Paris' art scene is much more complex in terms of the art industry, dealers, collectors, private foundations like Maison Rouge. The sense of history is strong, and the fusion of fashion and film, philosophy and academia all underpinned by a huge tourist trade that will pay to attend shows like My Winnipeg. Winnipeg is obviously more obscure, although one could argue that these deprivations have been beneficial to the artists here and that being on the margin is a privileged place to be.

3- What about Winnipeg's art community do you feel makes it unique?

There's a delicate mix of poverty, cheapness of living, arts funding, Native reality, radical thinking and conservatism, climatic extremes, boredom and revolution, support and indifference - the right combination of elements to foster creativity.

4- When away from the Winnipeg winter, do you miss it?

I've never really done the winter vacation thing, so I can't say.

5- What colour is your winter parka, and do you brave the season in sneakers, or prefer the warm comfort of boots?

I have an old raccoon fur coat that keeps me warm until -25, and a heavy fox trimmed Borg coat for anything colder then that. I've always worn normal street shoes with two pairs of socks.